Worlds Within Words

Lauren Beukes is the award-winning author of six novels, a collection of short stories, a pop history about South African women, and New York Times best-selling comics. Her work has been translated into 26 languages and won prizes across genres from the Arthur C Clarke Award to the Strand Critic’s Choice award and the University of Johannesburg Prize. Her novel, The Shining Girls, about a time-travelling serial killer and the survivor who turns the hunt around is now a AppleTV series with Elisabeth Moss. Her latest novel, Bridge, about a young woman’s search for her mother across realities is out now.

John Connolly is author of the Charlie Parker mysteries, The Book of Lost Things, The Land of Lost Things, the Samuel Johnson novels for young adults and, with his partner, Jennifer Ridyard, co-author of the Chronicles of the Invaders. John Connolly’s debut – Every Dead Thing – introduced Private Investigator Charlie Parker, and launched him right into the front rank of thriller writers. All his subsequent novels have been Sunday Times bestsellers, and he has sold more than 8 million copies in English language alone. He was the winner of the 2016 CWA Short Story Dagger, the first non-American writer to win the US Shamus Award and the first Irish writer to win an Edgar Award. Books To Die For, which he edited with Declan Burke, was the winner of the 2013 Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Awards for Best Non-Fiction work. John writes regularly for newspapers and magazines and hosts a radio show on RTE. He divides his time between Dublin and Portland, Maine.

David Barnett is a journalist and author. He has several published books, including Hinterland, Angelglass and The Janus House and Other Two-Faced Tales. Born in Wigan, Lancashire, England, he has worked at the Telegraph & Argus.